<p>Has anyone done both? I am at a school with a quarter system and its really stressful. Does a semester system move as fast?</p>
<p>You're taking finals 2 times per academic year compared to 3.</p>
<p>If you don't like/really like a professor you have to put up with/enjoy (respectively) their presence for a longer time span.</p>
<p>It's likely you will have more "downtime" during a semester including longer assignments/more time for papers although the demands are usually weighed pretty evenly in terms of credit hours. A first year writing course that is 3 credits on a semester schedule will likely include that aforementioned "down time" and longer due dates while an equivalent course on the quarter system may be worth 5 credit hours which represents a more demanding class load (but you're just finishing the same material faster). A speech class will require more frequent speeches, etc.</p>
<p>adding to the above point: cumulative finals on the semester schedule may be more of a pain. (but on the upside you have more time to "absorb" the information)</p>
<p>I'm transferring into the quarter system and looking forward to it. I've had two "summer semesters" which are the same # of weeks as a quarter so I feel somewhat qualified to say that... I think it has to do with my attention span though: 16 weeks + finals week feels like an eternity to me. You may be different.</p>
<p>I had semesters in undergrad and quarters in grad school, and I have to say I liked semesters a lot more. You have a lot more time to absorb material, if you miss a class it isn't nearly as big of a deal (getting sick for a week on the quarter system will kill your grades, while you can usually work it off on semesters), and I liked taking more classes at a time. It gave me more freedom in choosing which homeworks to do when, and I wouldn't get burnt out on one assignment since I generally had smaller things due every week.</p>
<p>Personally, I have always found that semester is better than quarter.</p>
<p>Some will find semesters too long (esp. bad if you end up taking a class you really hate).</p>
<p>There are pros and cons to both.</p>
<p>semester system all the way. quarter system moves way too fast. after 2 weeks you'll have to start studying for the mid-term. semester is a really good setup for those that enroll, audit, and decide that the class isn't for them, while still having time to switch to another class and get all caught up.</p>
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after 2 weeks you'll have to start studying for the mid-term.
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</p>
<p>What? Uhhm, no.</p>
<p>Uhmm.. Yes. Quarters are 9 weeks typically. Thus, midterm around the 4 week mark.</p>
<p>Uhm, who studies 2 weeks before a mid-term?</p>
<p>You might also have a class with two midterms and a final. Don't ask me how, but all of my math classes managed that. One actually had three midterms and a final.</p>
<p>another thing to consider though, is even though midterms and finals happen more frequently with quarters, you're typically taking fewer classes at a time. I think 3 finals is far less stressful than 5 or 6 all at once.</p>
<p>Here at Caltech the requirements to stay a full time student is four classes on quarters. Finals week is, well, not even a full week, and I don't feel that classes are actually compressed very much compared to what I had in undergrad. Instead of taking two classes in a year long course I take three and learn the same amount of material. I feel as though my actual retention is considerably lower on quarters since I like having time to think over what I'm doing, and I don't get it this way.</p>
<p>My high school had semesters and college had quarters. It took a little getting used to, but I really liked the quarter system better. Semester system is just too slow for me.
The people I know that switched from colleges with semesters to quarters had a big shock at how fast everything was happening. Quarters are only 10 weeks long compared to ~16. In the quarter system, school starts, 3 weeks later midterm, another 3 weeks - midterm, another 3 weeks - final.
Good news is that if you don't like the class, at least it's over pretty quickly. Bad news is, if you fall behind, you fall behind fast.</p>